A survivor of the residential school system came to Nusdeh Yoh Elementary School on Monday with a message of hope and resilience in the face of extreme emotional adversity.
Godwin Barton splits his time between Kincolith, a Nisga'a community north of Prince Rupert, and Vancouver. But for many years he lived in Port Alberni - and not by his choice.
He was just six years old when back in the 1970s, he was "collected" from his home and family and sent away to a residential school run by the Anglican church in the community on Vancouver Island community.Godwin Barton speaks to students at Nusdeh Yoh Elementary School on Monday during Orange Shirt Day. - Citizen staff photo
Barton's story is like that of many of his generation - torn away to be "civilized" and subjected to suffering, depravation and abuse. The simple act of trying to talk to a sister or brother while at the school could lead to some kind of punishment, he said.
Yet, Barton said his experience compared to those of many others was a "cakewalk."
"They were places of terror, torture and great pain," Barton told the assembly of students gathered in the school's gym. To mask that pain, Barton turned to drugs and alcohol.
But 21 years ago "I looked into my heart" and made a turn for the better. He is now a noted poet and writer and promotes the value of native culture to aboriginal youth.
"You are strong, you are beautiful and there is nothing you can't do if you go for it," he said in an interview when asked what he wanted the youngsters to learn from his story.
Barton's visit to Nusdeh Yoh occurred on Orange Shirt Day, held to encourage "understanding the truth about residential schools and encouraging a better future for all children," according to Nusdeh Yoh principal Liza Arnold.
It is held every September 30th, a date chosen because it was the time of year when aboriginal children were taken from their homes to residential schools.
As for the colour orange, it is in memory of the experience Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, a member of the Secwpemc First Nation, endured on her first day at St. Joseph Mission Residential School in Williams Lake.
Despite a lack of money, her grandmother had bought her a new outfit for the big day - a shiny orange shirt with string laced up the front that was so "bright and exciting -just like I felt to be going to school!"
But when she showed up, they took the shirt away, as well as all her other clothes and made her wear a uniform.
"The colour orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing," Webstad said in a posting on the Orange Shirt Day website. "All of us little children were crying and no one cared."
Webstad is now executive director of the Orange Shirt Society and tours the country telling her story and raising awareness about the impacts of the residential school system.
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